Additions Blog

I have to admit, I love a bit of neon. The colours are so vibrant, the glow it gives, its playfulness. We have to thank French scientist, Georges Claude, who developed and patented these wonderful glowing light tubes. During the last decade, neon has seen a rebirth, and artist, architects, and interior designers are beginning to rediscover its exciting possibilities.

For all lovers of Neon, a must see is the exhibition Neon: The Charged Line at Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool. It explores how artists have worked with neon, from the 1960s to the present day. Coinciding with the famous 'Illuminations', also on show are some rarely seen 1930s designs highlighting Blackpool's pioneering role in the history of neon in the UK.

So Neon is set to be hot in 2017. With increased crossover from the catwalk to interiors, you can bet you will see Neon appearing on many products and designs for the home too. This is particularly exciting as our latest fabric design is all about Neon.

Our love of art and music has inspired the design for Neon Lights. We have been long admirers of Dan Flavin and music legends Kraftwerk. The combination of Kraftwerk’s track “Neon Lights” and Dan Flavin’s light sculptures was the creative spark for this design.

This was our first year showing at Decorex and we were thrilled with the response to our fabric designs. I was delighted to see interior designers really ready to embrace colour and genuinely excited to discover something bold and new.

I am please to say I did manage to escape the stand and quickly run round the exhibition on my own hunt for colour and pattern. I no doubt missed some things, but here is what caught my eye.

Wow the Olympics are underway and off to an exciting start. Here at Parris Wakefield Additions we are proud to have been selected to be a tiny part of it by being an official contributor to British House.

British House is in the gorgeous grounds and buildings of a historic residence situated in Parque Lage designed by British landscape artist John Tyndale in 1840.

The official home of all things British at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, British House will celebrate the sporting achievements of Team GB along with the expertise, creativity and dynamism of the UK and its capital, London.

The schedule for the house is jam-packed with conferences and talks on everything from sports to music to Shakespeare.

The cushion design selected to go in the courtyard at British House is called ‘Bliss’. This design is a real celebration of colour, the colour palette is incredibly up-lifting. I always love watching people’s faces when they see the design for the first time, as they just can’t help but smile. That is why we named it Bliss meaning perfect happiness; joy and delight.

Hopefully, we can put a smile on the faces of Team GB and all the visitors to British House.

The guiding principles of British House are celebration, inspiration, and collaboration, and we are immensely proud to be a part of it and represent British textiles.

A little while ago Pantone announced its Colour of the year for 2016. After the initial surprise of there being two colours and the usual Love it hate it reaction, things have calmed down and we can begin to see how these colours can actually be used in the home. Looking at the broader colour palettes suggested by Pantone to compliment Rose Quartz & Serenity I couldn't help notice the close similarity to several designs in our collection: Chance,Choice and rug design 2 Weeks 2 seconds. When you look at the variety of colours that work well with Rose Quartz & Serenity you begin to realise that they are remarkably easy colours to work with for interiors.

So will you be bringing a little Rose Quartz & Serenity into your home decor?

We are really excited to share with you our latest textile design Fierce Beauty which will be available to order in Spetember 2015.

The colourful, repeating pattern of the beautiful flowers initially conceals the fearsome spines of the prickly pear cactus.

The faceted flowers are transformed into jewels placed upon the cactus's thorny crown.Printed on soft tactile velvet further enhances the playful nature of this design, inviting you to touch, stroke and cosy up on such Fierce Beauty

Story behind the designWe were inspired by the amazing photography of George Huey, in particular one shot of the Prickly Pear Cactus in flower.The juxtaposition of the exquisite flowers with the viscous spines was something we were instantly drawn to and wanted to capture in the design.

George Huey is a landscape, travel and natural history photographer, who has been called a ‘visual poet of the Southwest’ by the National Geographic Society and is passionate about visually interpreting our remaining wild lands.

"A rose in disguise: With their lush, moisture filled pads combined with sharp spines, prickly pear cactus remind me of a cross between a piece of ripe, inviting fruit, and a ferocious little animal. And their extravagant blossoms hardly look at home in a harsh, desert environment. One wants to approach these tactile plants, but you can't -- at least not safely!" George Huey

I have to give a special thanks to Julie Gibbons and her wonderful Pinterest boards. Julie runs a design blog and business called Tractor Girl and is quite a prolific pinner too. It was on one of her pin boards that I first saw and fell in love with this photo. I highly recomend you check out her blog and on Pinterest

This week two art installations caught my eye, both contemporary sculpures placed in historic buildings and both explore reflections, light and transparancy.

The first is Les Voutes Filantes by Atelier YokYok for the 2015 Cahors June Garden Festival. The architects designed a threaded structure in the middle of a sixteenth-century gothic style cloister in St Stephen’s Cathedral.

Different types of arches – lancet, ogee, semicircular – shape each threaded tunnel-vault differently, while at the same time mirroring the gothic cloister surrounding the installation. The choice of colour and the playful interaction with light make this such a wonderful piece that subtly changes through the day.

Read more at:http://www.frameweb.com/news/les-voutes-filantes-by-atelier-yokyokhttp://www.atelieryokyok.com/#/les-voutes-filantes-1/

The second is Reflective 3 by Carlo Brandelli for Pitti Uomo 88 Designer Project and can be seen in the central courtyard of the Medici Palace in Florence.

Read more at:http://www.wallpaper.com/fashion/carlo-brandelli-illuminates-the-internal-courtyard-of-florences-medici-palace-for-pitti/9069#0rf7kxdPUBdqSBY3.99http://www.pittimmagine.com/corporate/fairs/uomo/media-gallery/2015/uomo88/videobrandelli.html?media=69e7

I am delighted to introduce Interior Designer Karolina Barnes as our first guest blogger. I found Karolina on twitter a while ago where her love of colour and design was very clear. We finally we got to meet face to face at TENT London last year where she was full of passion and enthisiasm despite her tierd feet.

Her own blog is full of diy, smart shopping, inspiration, current trends in interior design and more. She gives free design tips and shows you how you can decorate and redecorate your home with the right tools and knowledge.

As an Interior Designer Karolina encourages her clients to embrace their style, banish beige and live in colour - something we believe in too!

So grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy this expert advice on decorating with colour and pattern.

HOW TO DECORATE WITH BOLD COLOURS AND PATTERNS by Karolina Barnes

Let me guess you like pattern and colours but you’re not confident in using them in your home. It might seem too difficult and every time you try there is “something missing” or “not right” about it. You get frustrated and in the end you just give up.

Here’s the thing. I was just like you. I was scared using a colourful palette with bolder cushions or curtains because I didn’t how to work with them. By trial and error I learnt that the key is in layering. Layered space is very personal and welcoming. It’s unique to you, which at the end of the day is what you want to achieve. You want your home to be a reflection of you, your personality. Your own mix of colours, textures and patterns will do just that. So how do you decorate with bold colours and patterns?

Step 1. Decide on your colour paletteMany people are surprised by this when I say that a room can have between 4 – 6 colours. Don’t be afraid to use various colours, its tones, shades and hues together. Many people stop way too early and don’t explore adding other combinations. Be brave and experiment with colour options.

If you don’t know where to start in choosing your colour palette I always advise my clients to look at their favourite item or object. It may be a piece of art, favourite summer dress, rug or fabric. Whatever it is it should be colourful otherwise it’s not going to work. Pull 4 main colours out of that which will give you your starting point.

Let’s use Parris Wakefield Destiny cotton fabric as our starting point and pull the colours out like this.

So let’s assume that our example fabric is for curtains. It’s bold, colourful and graphic. Now, we need to add other patterns in smaller proportion to go with it.

MY TIP – MIX GRAPHIC/IKAT/FLORAL/DAMASK PATTERN WITH STRIPESTo balance the curvy and round shape on the curtain fabric design, we need to break it up with more linear design. Stripes will do just that. Again narrow your search and work within your colour palette.

If you find fabric which is in similar colour scheme but has one colour which isn’t, don’t worry. That might be the accent or contrast colour which you can use in your scheme too. Notice how the striped fabric for the armchair has stripes in pale teal on this example below.

This colour will guide you to make your next selection. In this case I included much darker richer teal on the damask fabric and added one more fabric on the cushion to be the mediator between the two. To give you a better idea of how this scheme would turn out in a living room, I put this moodboard together as below.

Step 3. Mix in textureWhen working with pattern, texture is absolutely vital to the whole mix. It balances various patterns and scale. So that’s why I chose the chevron ivory fabric and the grass cloth wallpaper.

Since I want the curtain fabric to be the star of the space I need to have it against something in rough texture to contrast it. I chose the wallpaper in neutral palette but thanks to its texture and structure it’s still very interesting.

Step 4. Check your scaleYour scheme should be in proportion. In terms of pattern, being printed or textured, work from the largest to the smallest.Generally, there are 3 sizes which you can choose for your room. Large, medium and small. Work with fabrics representing one of each. Our eyes are naturally drawn to whatever stands out but if there are too many patterns fighting for our attention we get very confused. Remember there can only be one lead signer in a group. In our case it means that the largest pattern is only seen on curtains and the smallest pattern is on cushions.

MY TIP: Mixing patterns and colours is a processDesigning with pattern might seem to be difficult but if you follow these steps the process will be easier.

The biggest mistake people make is they create a feature wall or feature with large pattern and don’t link it with anything else in the room. Patterns need the story to carry on throughout the space. Like colours. They need to flow throughout the entire space. Don’t be afraid to use different types of pattern and different scales because what ties them all together is the colour scheme.

MY TIP: Too build up tour confidence start smallIf you still don’t feel confident in working with patterns and colours, start small. Cushions and decorative objects are great in boosting your confidence. They are small enough to live with them but can have a dramatic uplifting effect on your space. Gradually move on to rugs or window treatment as these are larger areas in your room. Once you feel comfortable and braver with patterns you can finally move on to wallpaper and larger upholstery. If you can do that you will realise how much fun you can have with pattern and bold colours and how rewarding it actually is. The rewards are much greater than your fear. So don’t let yourself stop you from all the greatness you can create for you and your family.

We are a small studio with big dreams and one of those is to see our designs sold in other countries. Had you told me that Poland would be among one of the first I would have thought it unlikely. But to our surprise that is exactly what has happend. We recieved an email from Cezary Lisowski of Wzory Widze who clearly has a passion for and love of design we were delighted to have hime represent our fabrics in Poland.

His online store is a treat for lovers of colour and pattern full of products from the talented Sian Elin, Mini Moderns, Daniel Heath, Ella Doran and ourselves.

I hope to meet with Cezary in person one day soon but until then I asked him some questions to find out more about himself and his love of design.

What started your interest in Design?The presence of beautiful objects in the home was important since I can remember. It was not easy at a time when my parents' generation had to choose from only a few models of furniture imposed by communism. Fortunately, several beautiful objects were at home with the previous generations. Conscious interest in design was born while traveling and working abroad in Ireland, New Zealand and England. It was fascinating to watch interiors where old items, vintage and modern coexist harmoniously; the past inspires the present.

Starting your own business is hard - what inspired you to take the risk?I won’t exaggerate saying that starting own business in Poland is quite difficult and a bit risky. It was inspired by the desire of independence and the need to share passion. Polish manufacturers still do not offer interesting solutions when it comes to interior design especially in field of wallpapers and fabrics. The idea was to fill this gap by offering products of interesting designers, especially from England.

What is a typical day for you running Wzory Widzę?Depending on scheduled meetings with architects and interior designers, every day work includes checking/adding products, social media, advertisements and most importantly customers’ service. The big part of work is also searching for fresh inspiration on social media and fair trades.

What are your top design trends in Poland?The trend for new designs is minimalistic furniture made from wood and/or metal. There is also huge trend on refurbishing vintage furniture from 60’s and 70’s using designer’s fabrics or simply plain fabrics. On top of that there is strong up cycling and recycling movement which brings very interesting design ideas.

Which up and coming Polish designers should we watch out for?Oskar Zięta, Witamina D Projekt, Mudo Design, ED design for fun, Norla Design

How would you describe you style in your own home?In one word – eclectic. We have antiques, especially in our living room, vintage furniture and few modern, useful pieces. The good guardian of our home is a slightly broken figure of an angel found by our ancestors at trash.

Can you share with us your best piece of design advice?Decorating and also designing a product we should combine knowledge, passion, imagination that comes from our experience with moderation worthy of an ancient Greek.

Wzory Widze is certainly making its mark quickly in Poland having been featured in Elle Decoration Poland, a fabulous colaboration with vintage furniture restorers Reborn, plus their elegant new showroom ‘’Le Studio’’ has just opened in the cityof Zgierz ( 3 Maja no.4 Street) and we are thrilled to be a part of it.

Dulux announced its 2015 colour of the year last month called Copper Blush. To be honest at first I have to admit it didn't really grab me.

“Replacing the cool blues and greens of recent years, the colour palette for 2015 brings a warmer spectrum of pinks, reds and oranges, reflecting a more positive global outlook. Copper Blush – a versatile, warm copper colour with an orange tone – has been named as Colour of the Year for 2015.” Dulux

But I have been seeing it allover the place on blogs and Pinterest and like most colours its all about what you put with it.

Then I was putting one of our fabric sample books together and there it was Copper Blush in our fabric design called Choice which we launched in March this year.

Of course true to our Parris Wakefield style we have included a few other colours and a good pop of bright, almost neon orange, to balance out the paler shades.

Marianne Shillingford, Design Director of Dulux advocates the use of yellow as an accent to give the room a surprising twist and I have to agree.

So be brave, mix it up a little, use different materials like natural wood and copper accessories but don't forget to add a pop of brighter orange or yellow x

We are really excited to have had our illustration selected to be a part of Amelia's Magazines 10 year anniversary limited edition gold foiled artists book.

If you're not familiar with Amelia's Magazine, then your missing a real treat so do check it out! If you are a fan of art, music, illustration pattern, colour and great creativity then it's a site I'm sure you'll love.

The open brief 'That Which We Do Not Understand' gave me the opportunity to combine my interest in science, astronomy and nature.

The piece represents one of the big questions, how did the universe begin? why does the natural world follow the same mathematical patterns?

Is it chance or some greater force at work, that brings such order from chaos?

The geometric pattern uses the rules of the the golden ratio and the Fibonacci sequence. Mathematical patterns that are mysteriously found in everything from from the leaf arrangement in plants, to the pattern of the florets of a flower, or the scales of a pineapple. The Fibonacci numbers are applicable to the growth of every living thing, including a single cell, a grain of wheat, a hive of bees, and even all of mankind.

Kickstarter Campaign

Amelia’s Magazine was a printed magazine for 5 years but is currently a web only magazine which does not take any advertising or sponsored posts. Therefore, in order to make this happen money is being raised through the Kickstarter crowd funding website. This is very exciting and nerve-wracking, because the entire amount of money must be raised in order to receive any of it. We therefore need to raise £12,000 (or more) in 23 days and we would love your help in doing so.

I do hope you will get behind this Kickstarter campaign, and help Amelia’s Magazine celebrate creativity in print once more!

Choosing the right paint colour can be a daunting task, we instantly fell in love with the new Paint by Conran range and selected Smashed Berry for the walls with its dark rich tone. Smashed Berry 2ltr Emulsion £36

Dark walls are perfect for making accent colurs really pop out like the yellow we used on the drawer unit. Dulux's Sunflower symphony 4 transformed this tired piece of funiture found on ebay into a modern statement piece.

Lighting in a room can have a dramatic imapact on the finished look, Parris Wakefield lampshades come in two sizes suitable for table lamps, floor lamps or hanging as a pendant. To add that extra pop of colour we use coloured fabric cord, once you have this in a room you will never go back to the ugly white palstic cord. There are so many wonderful colours to choose from, we get our cord from Urban Cottage Industries price £4 per metre.

March saw the return of the Affordable Art Fair - London’s friendliest art fair, welcoming art lovers,art connoisseurs, and art novices alike to discover affordable art by thousands of artists under one roof.There were 117 participating galleries from all over the UK and abroad, bringing their choicestselections all priced between £40 & £4,000.

Parris Wakefield Additions were excited to be asked to hang our textile collection on the walls of the cafe area.We hope all those art lovers enjoyed looking at our designs while taking a break from viewing all the amazing paintings, prints, sculpture and photography on show.

Today is a very exciting day for Additions as our wallpapers went into production. It took a lot to find the right manufacturers to get the quality and colours absolutely right, but it was well worth the effort.

In the photo below you can see 'Bliss' being printed and looking amazing. This very wallpaper is on its way to a waterfront apartment, designed by Swank Interiors, we look forward to sharing the photos with you later.

Mondrian’s iconic Broadway Boogie Woogie inspired the home of architect and critic Joseph Giovannini.He re-interpreted the painting in his New York City studio apartment. I love how these small blocks of colour make a big impact and seem to lead you around the appartment. Simple, effective and super cool!

Blog&Buy sale have recently put up their spring wish list which showcases the very best creative products from independent artists & designers. We are delighted to have 3 of our designs selected, our Marthe lampshade and cushion as well as our Field large cushion.

There are so many brilliant things getting sold by independent artists and designers, but the problem is finding them - Blog&Buy sale brings them all together in one place. With so many great things it is hard to choose, however after lots of deliberation I narrowed it down to my top 3.

STUFF I’M LIKELY TO FORGET NOTEBOOK by BREAD AND JAM

I love orange and am always forgetting things so this is perfect for me.

ROUND GLASS CHEESE PLATTER, THE ALABASTA from DOVETAIL-LIVING.COM

Designed by Asta Barrington this platter full of colour and pattern would be a joy to put out on the table every time

GG SHELVES by COUCOUMANOU

Perfect little side table, so useful with a great little pop of colour.

The Carpet Design Awards have become the focal point of the rug industry since their inception eight years ago. This year there were 214 entries from 25 countries, which made it such an honour for us, with our first rug designs, to make it to the final three in the category Best Collection: Modern. Here the judges were looking for a series of designs that worked well as a unified whole - that are strong individually in addition to working as a group commercially.

Our designs were described as having "a beautiful rhythm to the colours and textures of silk and wool" Many thanks goes to Knot Rugs for producing our designs and to Regan McDonall for skillfully interpreting our designs and placing the silks.

From all the designs that succesfully made it to the final selection my personal favourite is Magna Hildebrand's Labyrinth Teppich 3. This is a stunning rug with wonderful colour combinations, a simple organic shape, combined with inovative tufted textures.

Magna Hildebrand's Labyrinth Teppich 3

There are definately interesting times ahead in terms of rug innovation with the introduction of laser printing, creating a photo-like experience on a rug. Take a look at the winning design in the catagory Best Innovation by Zollanvari AG.

I love these wonderful suspended feather installations by French artist Isa Barbier. She suspends gull feathers in geometric arrangements, determining each piece's composition on site. It is this visual juxtaposition of wispy feathers and uniform alignment that especially draws one's attention to each hanging structure's uniquely shaped components.

For completely different feather sculptures I recommend you take a look at the work of Kate MccGwire

Geometrics is a design trend seen on many interior products at the moment, but who would have thought this trend would extend to chocolate!I am delighted it has - chocolatier Daniel Mercier created these precious faceted designs that are also fun with their bright colour. Definatley a break from the traditional forms of Easter.

They are almost too good to eat... almost

They are available as limited editions from La Grande Epicerie de Paris - If anyone happens to be in Paris and passing the store, yes please x

Hanging an eye-popping wallpaper behind your bed makes a statement that oozes hotel style.Our design 'Bliss' makes a dramatic statement in a room, it's organic lines and uplifting colours go to create an interior that will always make you smile - even on the dullest of days.Give your bedroom a coherent feel by pulling out a colour from the wallpaper and using it to create matching accents with your bedlinen and accessories It is important to continue the bold curves and contrasting colours through on the furniture. The baroque inspired chair may look expensive but even with its hand studded detail it is a steal at £169 from the fabulous Made.com

Get the look

The humble tile tranforms itself from a functional addition to the home to an adventurous design statement. No more plain white tiles, instead look out for texture, mosaics, contrasts and luxury materials.

It has been wonderful to hear about our customers interior projects and their dilemmas, since launching our collection. One customer emailed me with her lounge colour scheme and asked me which cushions did I think would work best. Others are looking for recommendations for lamp bases to go with our shades and many would like to use a statement wallpaper, but are unsure about how it would look.

From these conversations, I decided a way to help would be to create some room inspirations, and this is my first. They are created on Olioboard which I discovered thanks to #interiordesignchat on Twitter. If you have not heard of Olioboard, I highly recommend you check them out. Also if you use Olioboard and feel inspired to create some room schemes incorporating any of our designs, we would love to see and share them - simply put a link in the comments below.

Colour trends should never be taken too seriously which is why Mantone made me smile. “Mantone” created by cartoonist Lunchbreath is a color guide for 2013 that provides “five exciting palettes for the complex modern man”.